Hunting the Fox

Chapter 14

The next few days filled Kiera with wonder and awe. When Ryan said they were going to act like American tourist, he meant it. They visited Vatican City and received a special tour of Saint Paul's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel, they picnic in the Borghese Gardens, and they stood backwards at the Trevi Fountain throwing a coin in the fountain.

On the special tours, Ryan would wave Kiera to go on ahead and explore, explaining that he would catch up with her shortly. At first, she did not think anything of it because of the excitement of exploring old ruins or churches without other tourist. She did notice that Ryan would stay behind and talk to an individual. Kiera took note of Ryan and other persons' body language. People tended to relax in the company of others and revert to their old habits. On several occasions, Kiera noted some would take on a military posture, with the feet slightly apart and their hands behind their backs.

Kiera would take notes on the person whom Ryan was talking to and even capture a photo of the person. It was sometimes difficult to keep her phone out and make it seem casual. She tried other times to hold her phone down by her leg and record some video of Ryan talking to the person. For the most part, it worked. Kiera reviewed the information later while in the bathroom and sent the information to Sandra.

They made trips to the old Roman city, sightseeing in the Coliseum, and they were greeted by an elderly archeologist whom when by the name of Wolf. Kiera guessed the man to be in his sixties, with long grey hair and steel grey eyes. He provided a special tour of the old capital and the Coliseum. When Ryan was talking to Wolf, there was a sense of respect for the older man. It was as if the man was teacher and Ryan was the student. Kiera could not put a finger on it, but Wolf was someone very important.

Kiera and Ryan dined each night in a special location that only Ryan seemed to know about. In addition, the people who owned the restaurants knew Ryan. On one of those special nights out as they walked hand and hand back to the hotel. Kiera noticed a street festival. Excited by the atmosphere, Kiera pulled Ryan over to the festival. They danced to the music provided by the street band. The music vibrated through her body.

A couple of times when Ryan needed to go out by himself, Kiera would use this opportunity to trail him. During these times, Kiera could not shake the feeling that Ryan knew she was following him. She observed it in the way he walked. No matter how hard she tried to follow him. Ryan would manage to lose her in a crowd or down a narrow street. Sandra had met up with Kiera on one of those trips.

"Did you see where he when?" Sandra asked Kiera as the stood in the alley.

"I lost him again in the crowd." Kiera said exasperated.

"My team lost sight of him too." Sandra banged her hand against a wall in frustration.

"He does live up to his name." Kiera replied.

"We have to know where that sly Fox is going and who he is seeing."

"I think Wolf is involved somehow." Kiera said.

"Why do you say that?" Sandra inquired.

Kiera saw something in Sandra's face that did not match with the question she asked. Normally a person asking a question would show one of two different expressions. One would be a quizzical look of curiosity. The other expression would express indifference towards the question they were asking. Sandra did not express either of those choices. Instead, it was a 'what does she know' expression.

'Sandra is suspicious.' Kiera thought, 'But why?'

"When Ryan was talking to several people. They appeared to be taking orders from him. I saw it in their body language." Kiera explained, but watched Sandra's expression, "Wolf was different."

"What do you mean different?" Sandra asked and Kiera saw that same expression.

"Ryan looked up to him as a mentor or..." Kiera stopped for a moment lost in thought, "A father figure."

"That is quite an interesting assumption." Sandra replied slowly.

"Maybe I'm reading too much into it." Kiera said with a shrug, "Do you have anything on Wolf?"

"Wolf is a world renowned archeologist." Sandra replied quickly.

Kiera thought Sandra was too quick in giving out the information. It seemed like Sandra wanted to derail Kiera's train of thought.

'Who is Wolf?' Kiera thought, 'Maybe I should try a new track."

"I'm sure it is not important," Kiera shrugged, "I have to get back to the hotel before I'm missed."

Kiera watched Sandra relax as Kiera shrugged off this talk about Wolf.

"Keep the reports and pictures coming?" Sandra said.

Kiera gave Sandra thumbs up, looked out at the crowd of people walking, and scanned the area. She wanted to be sure Ryan was not in the crowd. When she was satisfied that the coast was clear, Kiera slipped out of the alley and into the crowd. She decided to stroll through the marketplace before going back to the hotel. She needed time to think about this last meeting with Sandra.

'What does she know?' Kiera thought.

In the marketplace, Kiera bought an apple from a vendor and walked on. Taking a bite out of the apple, she froze. She passed by a narrow side street and something caught her attention. Several Italians cursed as they sidestepped around her, but she did not pay attention to them.

'Was that Ryan?' Kiera thought, swallowing the bite of apple.

Kiera stopped just past the entrance of the narrow side street and pressed her back against the wall. Taking a deep breath, she peeked into the alley. She noticed Ryan leaning against a wall reading a newspaper. He looked like any normal person enjoying the day, except Kiera saw more. She watched him carefully as he would glance at the paper and then flick his eyes towards an alley.

Kiera followed his gaze and saw two men talking to each other. The first man was dressed in a business suit and had blond hair. The second man was harder to figure out. He had a hoodie that covered most of his facial features, but she did notice he was muscular in a body builder way. They both looked like normal people meeting on the street and having a conversation.

Kiera on the other hand saw more. The blond haired man was clearly uncomfortable as he shifted his weight from foot to foot. The hoodie man was clearly in control. By the way, he leaned in towards the blond haired man. She observed him scanning the area for anyone who might be listening. Something was definitely going on.

Slowly pulling out her phone, Kiera placed it in video mode and pressed a button. She used the zoom feature to get a closer look at the two men. The two men shook hands and each walked off in separate directions. Kiera turned off her phone and glanced over to where Ryan was leaning against the wall. Her heart leaped into her throat when she saw he was gone too.

'When did he leave?' Kiera thought feeling a shiver run down her spine.

She stepped into the narrow side street and saw the newspaper he was reading, lying on the ground.

"Boo." Kiera heard someone whisper into her ear.

"Ah!" Kiera screamed jumping into the air in fright. She dropped the apple, turned around, and brought her fist up ready to strike. She froze in place when she saw Ryan standing there was a smirk on his face. Kiera saw bystanders watching them with amused looks on their faces.

"What are you doing in this narrow street?" Ryan asked while he still smirked at her.

"Nothing," Kiera responded with shrug and lowered her fist.

"So you were not peeking around the corner at me." Kiera heard by his tone that it was a statement.

'Damn it, Ryan is asking all the questions,' Kiera thought quickly, 'If I ask questions, his suspicion will heighten, but how do I answer him.' Then an idea came to her.

"Well," Kiera said slowly and blushed looking down at the ground quickly while biting lightly on the side of her lip, "I was wondering what you were doing?" Then she looked up at him through her eyelashes and shifted her feet.

By going for an innocent, but uncomfortable look, Kiera hoped that it would throw Ryan off guard. She watched him carefully and rewarded with the look of uncertainty in his eyes.

"Were you now?" Ryan said placing his hands on his hips, "So I assume you have been following me?"

"I miss you Ryan," Kiera said with a low voice, "I wanted to know what you were doing without me. I thought we were going to enjoy Rome together."

"Kiera," Ryan breathed out, "You know I have business to attend to as well."

Kiera observed the way Ryan ran his fingers through his hair and how he seemed relieved about something or was it her. It was hard to get a fix on what he was feeling. Ryan was hiding something from her.

"What are you hiding from me Ryan?" Kiera asked softly.

"You are not going to give up on this are you?" Ryan sighed.

Kiera decided to take a defiant stance now. She looked up at him with her chin held high, hands on hips and feet slightly apart.

"Fine," Ryan said throwing up his hands in defeat.

Ryan did something unexpected. She thought he was going to tell her something important, but he reached into his pocket instead. Kiera was the one who felt thrown off guard. He produced a small velvet box.

"I was going to give you this tonight, but since you are pushing the issue. Here you go." Ryan explained in a neutral tone while holding out the small red velvet box.

"What...what is it?" Kiera stumbled over her words unsure what to do next.

"It's for you. Open it." Ryan gestured with the box.

Kiera took the box with a trembling hand and opened it. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw a pair of tear shaped diamond earrings.

"What is this?" Kiera said unable to think straight.

"They're earrings for your ears." Ryan said slowly. Kiera heard confusion in his voice.

"I know that, but why?" She was still staring at the earrings.

"I love you Kiera and I wanted to surprise you." Ryan said.

Kiera felt him lift her chin with his hand. She looked up into his china blue eyes.

"So when you said you were out on business..." Kiera let the sentence hang in the air as she tried to collect her thoughts.

"I was, but I was also looking for something special for you." He said softly.

Kiera knew there was more to his statement, but she did not want too push to much. She knew he was watching those two people and her. The real question was why was he watching them?

"I don't know what to say," stunned by his words.

"Thank you, they are lovely," Ryan suggested playfully with a smile, "Might be a good start."

Kiera wrapped her arms round Ryan, "Thank you Ryan, they are lovely." Kiera repeated.

She hugged Ryan tightly. She tried to focus on what he was not telling her. His hug told her that he was afraid for her.

'What does it all mean?' Kiera thought.

The next morning as they were finishing breakfast, Ryan asked if Kiera would like to take a tour of Rome's famous Catacombs.

"Sounds mysterious," Kiera smiled as she finished breakfast.

Kiera walked into the bedroom and change into a yellow sundress, which came down her mid-thigh. The dress had thin straps and was low cut. She completed it with a light sweater coat, the diamond earrings, and the Jade colored pendant. She took a few moments to send the video from yesterday to Sandra for analysis. She walked back into the main room just as Ryan placed his phone in his pocket.

"We will have whole catacombs to ourselves today." Ryan said.

Kiera saw him scan her body with his eyes and a smile spread across his lips. Kiera smiled too, she knew it would make an impact on him.

"How do you get these private tours?" Kiera questioned, while looking at him in a playful suspicious look. She felt her heart beating faster as he looked at her hungrily.

"You get to meet interesting people with the kind of work I do." Ryan said with a shrug. He walked up to Kiera and pulled her close. Kiera tilted her head as he kissed her. She felt him run is hand down her spine and cup her bottom under the skirt. A shiver ran down her back and she pressed herself against him.

"Shall we go?" Ryan smirked as he stopped kissing her.

"You are an evil man Mr. Westbrook." Kiera breathed out pushing away from him.

"Well it is either going on a private tour or..." Ryan said looking towards the bedroom.

"I want to see these famous Catacombs. So you owe me when we get back." Kiera said playfully and held a warning finger at him. "By the way, what do you think?" Kiera moved her head side-to-side showing off the earrings.

"They enhance your beauty my graceful Gazelle." Ryan said and kissed her again.

At the entrance the catacombs, the old archeologist Wolf greeted them. Kiera saw Ryan body language and expression change when Wolf greeted them. It was as if Ryan looked up to Wolf as a mentor, but that was not right. It was more like a father figure. It was curious, plus she did find Wolf's name odd, but he was more than happy to explain it.

"My colleagues named me Wolf because I could sniff out any ancient site or bones." Wolf explained putting his hat back on, "Of course they wanted to name me dog, but being wiser than the rest of them." Wolf finished explaining the meaning while they stood at the entrance to the Catacombs.

"There seems to be a lot of security over there." Kiera said shading her eyes and looking across the street.

Kiera saw a large church with an enormous dome. The church had concrete barriers around it and several men wearing black uniforms and carrying semi-machine guns, guarding the area.

"That is the location of the G7 Summit." Ryan said.

"Really," Kiera said letting out a low whistle, "Is it safe to be in the Catacombs and this close."

"As long as we stay out of the restricted area," Wolf said, "We will be fine."

"Well enough standing around here," Kiera piped in, "I excited to see the Catacombs."

Wolf escorted them down a winding staircase made of iron. The stairs took them down into the deepest parts under Rome. The air was cooler down in the depths of the Catacombs, than the hot late spring day at street level. Goosebumps rose on Kiera's arms and thighs and she pulled her light sweater around her shoulders. When they arrived at the bottom of the stairs, Kiera saw they were in a large circular chamber made of rough stones. Kiera turned around slowly in the dim light and noticed several tunnels leading off in different directions.

"We are in the antechamber of the Catacombs." Wolf announced, "If you look up, you can see pagan symbols carved into the ceiling with early Christian symbols."

"This is amazing, Kiera said looking up to see the carvings. She smelled the ancient air and closed her eyes to take it all in all the experience.

"Why don't you take a look around Kiera?" Ryan suggested smiling.

"What about you?" Kiera opened her eyes and gave him a strange look.

"I have a few things to discuss with Wolf," Ryan responded, but she knew that Ryan saw the disappointed look on her face, "I will only be a minute love."

"You only get one minute." Kiera held up one finger and smile playfully.

"You have quite a lovely, but demanding woman, Ryan." Wolf laughed.

"You have no idea." Ryan replied shaking his head in mock sorrow.

"Well I see that I'm no wanted here." Kiera stuck her nose in the air and walked off towards one of the tunnels, "Also please staring at my bottom, good sir." Kiera looked back at Ryan with a wicked grin. She was hoping that this would throw him.

As she headed down a tunnel a few yards away, she stopped at the entrance of the tunnel and looked back to observe them. She saw that they were not looking towards her and were talking. The ceiling lights lit the floor of the tunnels, but produced shadows along the walls. Kiera moved towards the wall were the shadows would hide her. She strained to listen to their conversation. The stonewalls of the tunnels helped.

"Does she know?" Kiera heard Wolf say.

"I know she has been following me, but she a..." Ryan's voice said, but the rest of the sentence was lost in the echo of the tunnels.

'So he does know I have been following him.' Kiera thought feeling better about her assumption.

"You have to be careful and don't lose her or..." Wolf said, but the street traffic above cut off the rest.

'What was that about losing me?' Kiera thought straining to hear more.

"It is becoming diff...they are demanding a lot." Ryan's voice cuts out in midsentence from the traffic.

"We will be... the time will come." Wolf's voice cut out too.

"Time is short and we are not closer to finding out...Kiera...Victor wants." Ryan responded.

"One thing at a time, Victor first...Kiera..." Wolf said.

'What about me?' Kiera thought in frustration and closed her eyes straining to hear more.

"Your minute is up Ryan... find her before... lost." Wolf said.

Kiera opened her eyes realizing that they were talking about her, something about getting lost in the Catacombs. She quickly and silently stepped backwards into the tunnel. When she was far enough into the tunnel, Kiera turned around and started to explore the Catacombs.

'There is that name again, Victor.' Kiera thought as she looked at the neatly arranged skulls along the walls.

Kiera was lost in her thoughts about her name mentioned, the name of Victor and the awe of the Catacombs. She failed to notice the open metal security gate she passed through as she turned down the right branch of tunnels.

'Why is Ryan and Wolf worried about me?' Kiera thought some more. She clearly heard a tone of worry in Ryan's voice.

As she continued down a smaller passageway while deep in thought, she stopped for a second as something distracted her train of thought, 'Did I hear a voice?' Kiera thought straining to listen in the silence of the tunnels.

The silence of the tunnels pressed in around her. Kiera looked around noticing that the tunnels became smaller and the floor beneath her sneakers was dirt instead of concrete. In addition, she noticed the lighting was dimmer down the passageways of bones. The air was cool and damp. Kiera shivered a bit from the cold and fear of being lost.

"Great." Kiera muttered to herself as she scanned the area looking for a familiar landmark. Squinting in the dim light, Kiera saw another tunnel, again she heard voices. They seemed to be two voices. At first, she thought it could be Ryan and Wolf looking for her, but the tone of the voice sounded different. It sounded Italian.

Kiera walked towards the other tunnel noticing that it was darker.

'I did not come from that direction.' Kiera thought scratching her head.

The voices seemed to be coming from the darker tunnel's direction. Taking a step into the tunnel, she saw a light bobbing in the distance like a Will-O-Wisp. Kiera was about to call out to the light when a hand unexpectedly wrap around her mouth and waist.

The strong arms pulled her into a large alcove. Kiera screamed involuntarily, but the hand muffled her scream. Even though fear coursed through her body, she was able to think clearly. She quickly struck backwards with an elbow hitting something hard. To her satisfaction, she heard a muffled oomph from behind her.

As Kiera brought her elbow back again, she heard a familiar voice whisper in her ear.

"Kiera it's me." The familiar voice of Ryan spoke through gritted teeth.

"Ryan?" Kiera said in a muffled voice through his hand.

"Yes," Ryan removed his hand from her mouth and turned her around.

She saw in the dim light of the tunnel, "What..."

Ryan gave her a stern look and raised a finger to her lips. Kiera feeling upset raised her eyebrows about to speak.

"There are guards coming from that direction." Ryan explained in a whisper pulling her close, "You walked into a restricted area through a metal gate."

"What?" Kiera whispered in confusion trying to recall her walk through the tunnels. She vaguely remembered metal gate.

"We are underneath the old church where the G7 summit will be held."

Kiera felt her body tense as she heard heavy footsteps approaching. Ryan swiftly pulled her close and kissed her. Kiera tried to pull back feeling this was not the time, but Ryan held her firmly in his arms. Despise the fear. The kiss ignited a passion in her body. She kissed him back and pressed herself against him.

"Arresto," An Italian male voice announced as light flooded the alcove.

Kiera stopped kissing Ryan and turned around shielding her eyes from the bright light.

"Che cosa state facedo qui voi due?" Another male voice demanded in Italian.

"Giro turistico," Ryan responded.

"Giro turistico?" One of the Italians repeated in confusion.

"Sei in una zona riservta," The first person who told them to freeze spoke.

"Ci dispiace, volevo mostrare alla mia ragazza un posta special," Ryan answered.

"What is going on?" Kiera whispered out of the side of her mouth.

"They said we are in a restricted area," Ryan replied with his hands on her hips, "I told them that I wanted to show you a special location and we are tourist." Ryan then spoke to the guards, "Parli inglese?"

"I speak English." The first man spoke in a heavy Italian accent.

"I'm truly sorry guys." Ryan apologized sheepishly.

"Come out of the alcove, slowly and with hands raised." The man ordered.

Ryan and Kiera stepped out of the alcove with their hands raised. Kiera observed that the two guards were dressed like the guards surrounding the old church. In addition, they had the same semi-automatics. They both had serious expressions on their faces. Kiera notice the second man holding a flashlight and his gun pointed directly at them.

The first man nodded his head at the second man. The second man lowered his gun, flashlight and walked towards them. The first man kept a gun and light trained on them. The second man patted Ryan and then Kiera. He stepped back holding their passports. He handed the passports to the first man who put away his gun. The second man pulled his gun back out and pointed it at them. The first man flipped opened the passports.

"Mister Westbrook and Doctor Reid?" The first man asked looking at each of them in turn.

"Yes," Ryan answered, "Look I'm really sorry..."

"I only asked your names." The Italian cut him off, "You are trespassing in a restricted area."

"What restricted area?" Kiera noticed Ryan give a confused look when he answered.

"There was a locked metal gate back that way." The first guard told him as he pointed behind them down the tunnel.

"The gate was unlocked with no signs on it." Ryan said in an insulted tone.

"The gate was closed and locked." The second guard said with a suspicious tone.

"I'm sorry Lieutenant Francesco." A voice spoke up from behind Kiera and Ryan, "I must have left that gate open."

"Mister Wolf," The first guard who must have been Francesco spoke up, "Do you know these two?"

"Yes," Wolf nodded, "They are my special visitors today." Wolf walked pass them and handed over a folded piece of paper.

Kiera watched as Francesco took the folded piece of paper and flipped it open. Kiera noticed a seal near the bottom of the paper.

"Privato Ricco, Metti giu la tua pistola." Francesco ordered looking at the other guard.

"Si Luogotenente Costa." Private Ricco lowered his weapon.

Kiera and Ryan slowly lowered their hands keeping an eye on Ricco, whose hand was still on the handle of his gun, but at least it was pointing downward. They both breathe outward in a sigh of relief.

"Signore Wolf," Francesco Costa said, "Please escort your visitors back to the unrestricted area."

"Si Lieutenant Costa," Wolf replied, "Come along you two love birds." Wolf turned toward them with a smile.

"Next time we will arrest you Mister Westbrook, special permissions from the government or not." Francesco said sternly watching them leave.

When the three of them exited the restricted area, Kiera let out a loud sigh of relief. Ryan and Wolf on the other hand started laughing. Kiera looked at each man in confusion, but started laughing until there were tears in her eyes and her side hurt.

"I cannot believe we got out of that." Kiera breathed heavily trying to catch her breath.

"Yes thanks to Wolf." Ryan said with his hands on his knees.

"Now that you two had your fun," Wolf sighed, "Go finish your exploration of the Catacombs and stay out of the restricted area"

"Not a problem." Ryan smirked.

Kiera and Ryan walked down another tunnel holding hands and exploring the depths of the catacombs. As they turned down a tunnel lined with empty alcoves, Ryan spun Kiera towards him and kissed her hard. Kiera thought about the last time and broke the kiss.

"There are no guards this time." Ryan said turning her head towards him and kissed her again.

"What about Wolf?" Kiera pulled back looking around again.

"He probably already left." Ryan shrugged.

Kiera felt his hands on her hips as he pulled her close to him. Kiera still felt warm from the brief time in the alcove. She reached down and pulled out his erection. Ryan pushed her against the smooth rock of the tunnel and pulled her pink underwear to one side. Grasping his hardness Kiera guided him into her. Ryan penetrated her hard and fast. Kiera moaned loudly clutching his shoulders. Ryan grasped one of Kiera's slim thighs and pulled up as he used his other hand to squeeze her bottom. Kiera held tight to Ryan and kissed him hard as he thrust deeper.

Kiera felt raw passion flooding through her as Ryan plunged himself into her. She felt her back pressed up against the wall with each hard thrust. She stopped kissing him and bit her lower lip to stifle a cry. Kiera climaxed as pleasure rushed from her toes and along her spine. She sensed Ryan was close by the way he was thrusting faster and shorter. The thought of someone catching them had excited them both. With a finally thrust, Ryan buried himself in her and groaned. Kiera held tightly to him as he gripped her thigh and bottom. She felt him breathing heavy against her neck as she held onto him.

Ryan let her leg go, but held himself in her slowly moving his hips.

"Wow," Kiera breathed out, "That was amazing."

"Yes it was." Ryan agreed and thrust hard into her. Kiera cried out in pleasure. She clamped her hand over her mouth in shock, "Don't worry, no one will hear you."

"You felt amazing," Kiera said swallowing hard as Ryan stepped back pulling out of her.

"You felt amazing," Ryan kissed her.